


The Lorekeeper's Awakening

by ShadowMeowth



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: 5.2 Spoilers, A bunch of headcanons, Actually Not Even Pre-Native Language Written, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), No Beta, To Be Expanded In The Future, Woven Into Something That Resembles A Story, written on the fly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23594548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowMeowth/pseuds/ShadowMeowth
Summary: She could hardly remember what she had dreamed of, the passages fragmentary and blurry. The voices echoed, yet unintelligible. Only the dread and sadness remained.That, and one single word.
Relationships: Hythlodaeus & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch & Warrior of Light
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	The Lorekeeper's Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Would you look at that. I made up a short FanFic on the fly. To be fair, I had been thinking of the lead-up to a drawing and its context while trying to fall asleep last night, but still. I wrote this in one go and entirely in English without writing it first in Spanish as I always do. Quite unusual.
> 
> I plan to write a full thing about the Fourteenth, Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus from the Final Days to the Great Sundering, in which this thing here will be included but expanded, and that is why at first I was not going to post this. But screw it. Might be short but I am oddly pleased with it.
> 
> This is mainly a bunch of theories and headcanons thrown into something that looks like a short story, but whatever. There you go.

The Warrior of Light and Darkness tossed in her sleep, feeling her head about to burst in pain. As if there was something pounding from the inside, demanding release.

* * *

The very skies trembled with every blow exchanged. Bladed arms against edged feet. A frenzy of blue and purple, of gold and silver, of Light and Darkness. And each time they clashed, the very earth shuddered.  
  
She looked up, dread pooling in her very soul. There they were, Zodiark and Hydaelyn. The towering, crystalline figures engaged in a duel to the death.  
  
But whose death, she thought. With each strike, everything around them crumbled and collapsed. Those few who survived the Final Days and the revival of the star were now facing a third calamity in the form of a divine war, and this might as well be the last they would be able to weather.  
  
"There you are", a familiar voice said, and she noticed a man running to her. "I almost thought you would not make it. Things are not going precisely well."  
  
"I can see that", she replied. A blast echoed throughout the ruins of Amaurot, and they both struggled to keep their balance. "I evacuated everyone I was able to find in the lower levels. How about you?"  
  
"Still halfway through. 'Tis nigh impossible to find a safe place amidst such destruction."  
  
"Do not falter, Hythlodaeus. Our people need us."  
  
Despite the chaos, the fire and the gods fighting above them, Hythlodaeus chuckled.  
  
"I would say they need _you_ , Lorekeeper."  
  
She looked away.  
  
"I am no longer of the Convocation."  
  
"And yet here you are, to protect our people. To keep our existence alive."  
  
"Old habits die hard."  
  
Another deafening blast, a keening sound. She and Hythlodaeus raised their eyes, and the sight of Hydaelyn bringing Zodiark down to earth with a tremendous kick froze the blood in their veins. When the gods struck the ground, the impact was so powerful it knocked them and everyone else back a few yalms.  
  
"Stars forfend", she heard Hythlodaeus mutter. Well, if he of all people was scared, the world was definitely screwed.  
  
"Damn it all! Where is Hades?!"  
  
"All of the Convocation are in what is left of the Capitol, to ward Zodiark and shield the city."  
  
"Take the people with you and seek shelter. I am going to help them."  
  
Hythlodaeus smirked.  
  
"I thought you were no longer of the Convocation?"  
  
"As far as I know, they have not chosen a succesor for me yet. I might be the Fourteenth no longer, but I am yet the only Lorekeeper at present."  
  
His smile widened. And yet there was a tinge of sadness in his voice when he said his parting words, clutching her hand in his for a long moment.  
  
"May you find what it is you seek, my friend."  
  
She nodded. As Hythlodaeus called out to the people fleeing for their lives and she ran into the opposite direction, right towards the ruined Capitol, she had the horrible feeling that it would be the last time she would see him.  
  
She forced herself to not dwell on it. There was another dear friend, risking his life alongside the stewards of the star to protect what little was left of their kind, who needed her. She might have left her seat in disagreement, but as much as she disliked Zodiark, she just could not allow Hydaelyn and Her followers make a mockery of Elidibus and half their people's sacrifice by destroying Him and laying waste to the star and everything that dwelled on it. Their very _existence_ included.  
  
She was still duty-bound to keep history alive.  
  
Everything seemed like a blur as she ran as fast as she could, trying to reach the top of the broken spire where the Convocation was reunited. She could almost see the end of the stairs...  
  
... And then, another devastating blow that felt as if the land itself buckled and the air yelled in terror. Dreading what was to come, she finally climbed to the top of the spire.  
  
What she saw froze her in utter horror.  
  
A grievously wounded Zodiark, pinned down mercilessly by Hydaelyn and held by luminous chains, His purple crystal skin bleeding darkness where Her edged feet struck. And all members of the Convocation, the powerful and wise stewards of their people, standing proudly between oblivion and their kind moments ago, had been knocked to the ground by the blast, just like the will of the star.  
  
She could taste the Light in the raging gale that began to form as Hydaelyn stepped back and started mustering all Her strength. The skies were set aglow with a blinding golden hue, and she knew it was over. This was the end of the line.  
  
Two sets of divine eyes came to rest on her, as she was the only one left standing. Zodiark's red, Hydaelyn's blue. Desperate the former's, solemn the latter's.  
  
And Light and Dark spoke directly to her soul.  
  
_Lorekeeper,_ She called. _Hear. Feel. Think._  
  
_Lorekeeper,_ He pleaded. _Look. Learn. Remember._  
  
And then she knew what she had to do.  
  
Her eyes searched frantically for the one she knew so well. Closest to the edge of the spire, closest to where Hydaelyn was about to strike down Zodiark with all Her might, alongside Lahabrea and a soul she did not recognize but their white robes marked them as Elidibus' successor, was Emet-Selch. Hades. Her dearest friend.  
  
Her only remaining hope.  
  
Heart and mind reacted the same way. She rushed in front of them, and summoned all her power, everything she was, and extended her arms to shield him as Hydaelyn fell upon Zodiark with her bladed feet shining with the light of oblivion.  
  
The star itself screamed in despair as reality was torn apart.  
  
But she stood her ground even as she felt her very existence being diluted, the Lorekeeper's glyph glowing red as she protected the one who would bear the burden of truth.

Her chosen successor.  
  
She heard Emet-Selch's voice in her soul, screaming her name. She turned around, and amidst the resplendent obliteration, his golden eyes met hers.  
  
She gave him a sad smile and a last whisper to his friend's soul. A final request. Her parting words.  
  
And then the Light devoured her.

* * *

X'wyhn Lehn woke up with a gasp, sweating and shivering as if she had a terrible fever. She could hardly remember what she had dreamed of, the passages fragmentary and blurry. The voices echoed, yet unintelligible. Only the dread and sadness remained.  
  
That, and one single word.  
  
_Lorekeeper._  
  
Ordinarily, she would have dismissed it as a trick of the light. But her blindfold had taught her to see what most could not, and she could have sworn that, the moment she awoke, a red glyph had been hovering over her face before vanishing into the night.

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N:** First thing first. As this was originally an accompaniment piece for a drawing, here it is the drawing in question. https://www.deviantart.com/shadowmeowth/art/FFXIV-Shadowbringers-The-Lorekeeper-s-Awakening-837412569
> 
> /shameless artist self-promotion
> 
> Now onto the story's weaving. I think I made my stance clear about what I think the best purpose of the Fourteenth would be in the Convocation, but still. It occurred to me that **1)** the reason Emet-Selch —and Lahabrea and Elidibus by proxy— survived the Great Sundering was because the Fourteenth sacrificed themselves to save him, **2)** the Warrior of Light and Darkness bears now —part of— the truth about the Ancients because Emet-Selch entrusted them with his legacy. So, I thought, what if the Fourteenth was who first entrusted the survival of their people's history to Emet-Selch, and it came full-circle when Emet-Selch entrusted the WoL/D with the very same legacy given to him by us? In any case, we are already bearing the Ancients' history and existence, hence we are effectively Lorekeepers.
> 
> I assume I am not the only one who believes the Legacy —heh— tattoo given to players from 1.0 might very well be the Fourteenth's glyph. So there is that. I am on that boat as well.
> 
> And yes, with the confirmation that the Fourteenth had no hand in summoning Hydaelyn —understandable in hindsight, since they apparently defected because they did not want to go along the summoning plan, therefore it would be absurd to do exactly the same afterwards— I guess they, if not actively fending off Hydaelyn and Her followers or joining the Convocation's efforts, were at least trying to protect their people from _yet another_ disaster.
> 
> Oh, and I do imagine Zodiark's trademark words being "look, learn, remember" just like Hydaelyn always says "hear, feel, think". You may recall these words from Emet-Selch's mouth when he beheld the murals in the Qitana Ravel, and there is something in his delivery that makes me think the whole plot could be summarized in those three words. It would seem Zodiark is more related to knowledge and remembrance of the past in opposition to Hydaelyn being related to intuition and hope for the future. We might say Zodiark represents the mind and Hydaelyn the heart. That I tried to portray in this short writing as well.
> 
> I do have a name for the Fourteenth, both real and of office, but here I wrote neither of them. I will be keeping those to myself for now.
> 
> And I would say, that is all. I hope to write the entire thing before 5.3 comes and throws my theories out of the window. :')


End file.
